But first-year UD coach Archie Miller was caught in a bind with his substitution pattern in an 83-73 loss at home to Duquesne on Wednesday.
Rallying from 16 points down, the Flyers took a 57-55 lead with 10:09 to go on two free throws by Chris Johnson. But guys were getting gassed, and Miller knew he had to give them a break.
“At that point, it was going to be anybody’s game, and the team that was able to get stops, take care of the ball and finish (on offense) was going to have a chance to win,” he said. “But right when we hit that 10-minute mark, we had to sub. We had to give different guys blows. And we had breakdowns on both sides when that happened.”
I checked the play-by-play to see if Miller’s recollection was accurate, and it was. To a degree.
He put in Devin Oliver for Luke Fabrizius during the Johnson foul shots, which isn’t a big change. Oliver was soon getting tugged to the bench for Ralph Hill.
And there was only one other switch during that critical part of the game, but it was a drastic one: Point guard Kevin Dillard was replaced by Josh Parker at 8:13 with the Flyers trailing by just one. When Dillard returned at 7:44, the deficit was five and momentum was spiraling in the wrong direction.
What that shows is just how valuable Dillard is to this team. He finished with 22 points and seven assists with a mere two turnovers in 36 minutes. He can’t play 40, though, and the Flyers are pretty much directionless without him.
They need another true point guard on the roster, and that won’t happen until recruit Jevon Thomas, ranked as the 26th-best senior point guard nationally by Rivals.com, joins the squad next season.
Until then, the Flyers have to play Dillard mega-minutes and hope the game isn’t too tight when he takes his needed breaks.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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